Guanaco

Guanaco
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Camelidae
Genus:	Lama
Species:	L. guanicoe
Binomial name
Lama guanicoe (Müller, 1776)
Guanaco range

The guanaco (Lama guanicoe) is a camelid native to South America that stands between 1 and 1.2 metres (3 ft 3 in and 3 ft 11 in) at the shoulder^[2] and weighs about 90 kg (200 lb). The colour varies very little (unlike the domestic llama), ranging from a light brown to dark cinnamon and shading to white underneath. Guanacos have grey faces and small straight ears. The name guanaco comes from the South American language Quechua word wanaku (old spelling, huanaco).^[3] Young guanacos are called chulengo(s).^[4]

Population and distribution

Herd of Guanacos

The guanaco is a vulnerable animal native to the arid, mountainous regions of South America. Guanaco are found in the altiplano of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, and Argentina. In Chile and Argentina, they are more numerous in Patagonian regions, as well as in places like the Torres del Paine National Park, and Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego. In these areas, they have more robust populations, since there are limitations on grazing competition from livestock. Bolivian Indians have been known to raise guanaco to help them regain their population stability. A guanaco’s typical lifespan is 20 to 25 years.

Estimates, as of 2011, place their numbers at 400,000 to 600,000.^[5]

Guanacos live in herds composed of females, their young and a dominant male. Bachelor males form a separate herd. While female groups tend to remain small, often containing no more than ten adults, bachelor herds may contain as many as 50 males. When they feel threatened, guanaco alert the herd to flee with a high-pitched bleating call. The male will usually run behind the herd to defend them. They can run with a speed of 56 km (35 mi) per hour, often over steep and rocky terrain.^[6] They are also excellent swimmers.

Guanacos are one of the largest wild mammal species found in South America (along with the manatee, the tapir, and the jaguar). They have only one natural predator, the cougar.^[7] Guanacos will often spit when threatened.^[8]

To protect its neck from harm, the guanaco has developed thicker skin on its neck, a trait still found in its domestic counterparts, the llama and alpaca, and its wild cousin, the vicuña. Bolivians use the necks of these animals to make shoes, flattening and pounding the skin to be used for the soles. In Chile, hunting is allowed only in Tierra del Fuego, where the only population not classified as endangered in the country resides. Between 2007 and 2012, 13,200 guanacos were legally hunted in Tierra del Fuego.^[9]

Mating season

Guanacos in Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia

Mating season occurs between November and February, during which males often fight violently to establish dominance and breeding rights.

Eleven-and-a-half months later, a single chulengo is born.^[10] Chulengos are able to walk immediately after birth. Male chulengos are chased off from the herd at approximately one year of age.

Domestication

Although the species is still considered wild, there are around 300 guanaco in US zoos and around 200 registered in private herds.^[11] Guanacos are the parent species of the domesticated llama.

Hemoglobin levels

Guanacos are often found at high altitudes, up to 13,000 feet above sea level, except in Patagonia, where the southerly latitude means ice covers the vegetation at these altitudes. To survive the low oxygen levels found at these high altitudes the blood is rich in red blood cells. A teaspoon of guanaco blood contains about 68 billion red blood cells, ~four times that of a human.^[12]

Guanaco fiber

Guanaco fiber is particularly prized for its soft, warm feel and is found in luxury fabric. The guanaco's soft wool is valued second only to that of the vicuña. The pelts, particularly from the calves, are sometimes used as a substitute for red fox pelts, because the texture is difficult to differentiate. Like their domestic descendant, the llama, the guanaco is double coated with a coarse guard hair and soft undercoat, which is about 16-18 µ in diameter and comparable to the best cashmere.^[13]

Atacama Desert

The remains of a Guanaco scattered in the Atacama desert, southwest of Cerro Paranal. The only intact section of skin is the one around the neck

Some Guanacos live in the Atacama Desert, where in some areas it has not rained for over 50 years. A coastline running parallel to the desert enables them to survive. Where the cool water touches the hot land, the air above the desert is cooled, creating a fog and thus, water vapor. Winds carry the fog across the desert, where cacti catch the water droplets and lichen that cling to the cacti soak it in like a sponge. When the guanacos eat the cacti flowers and the lichen, the water is transferred to them.^[14]

See also

Guanacos near Torres del Paine, Chile

• Llama
• Alpaca
• Vicuña

References

External links

Wikispecies has information related to: Lama guanicoe

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Guanaco.